Cashback

by Duncan James

  ***

  She did.

  Quite soon after breakfast, she was asked to go to reception, where a gentleman was waiting to see her. It was M. Gilbert.

  "Rather than ring you to confirm that the three additional accounts we discussed have been authorised and opened," he said, "I thought I would call to tell you, so that I may also give you my record of yesterday's meeting."

  He handed her an envelope.

  "Please let me know if this does not accord with your recollection of our discussion," he said.

  "Thank you," she replied. "It's most kind of you to call, especially as Mr. Hood will be here later this morning, and we shall both be leaving again for London this evening. We shall be able to let you have our comments before we leave, I hope."

  "I notice that another very large deposit was made into this account overnight, as I am sure you are aware, although we have yet to confirm its source," Monsieur Gilbert announced.

  "There will be others," said Marian sagely, ignoring his unasked question about the source of the deposit.

  M. Gilbert cursed silently. He had hoped to elicit from Marian how such huge sums of money could be deposited, apparently from nowhere. He dared not pursue the matter, though, for fear of giving the lady the impression that the bank was not as efficient is it should be. But it was an extraordinary phenomena, the like of which he had never before experienced in all his years working for one of the finest and most secure of all the Swiss banks.

  "If I can do anything more for either of you before you leave," offered M. Gilbert, "please do not hesitate to get in touch."

  They shook hands solemnly, and parted good friends.

  Across town, M. Renoir was also being told of a hefty cash deposit into Mr. Hood's account.

  "Where from?" he demanded.

  "Yet to be determined," replied his harassed accounts clerk.

  "I suppose it's real money, is it?" asked M. Renoir.

  "Oh, yes, it's OK," replied the clerk. "It came through the clearing system, all right, but if I wanted to acknowledge its receipt, I wouldn't be able to at the moment."

  "Tell security," ordered the new business manager. "Mr. Hood is calling in to see me later, so I'll see what I can find out - discreetly, of course."

  "Of course," agreed the accounts clerk.

  Robin Hood's flight arrived at Geneva on time, and he was waiting for his train to Montreux when his father rang.

  "I thought you should know right away," he told Robin, "that Aunt Gladys has taken a turn for the worse. I've moved her into the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham."

  "I'm sorry to hear that," said Robin. "What's the prognosis?"

  "Not good," replied his father. "She's probably only got about another three weeks or so, but on the other hand, it could be three months - you just never know."

  "In that case," suggested Robin, "I suppose I should clear that money out of her account, and return it all to where I got it from in the first place."

  "That might be an idea," replied his father. "It could save complications later, although what the bank will make of it, goodness knows!"

  "Have you heard anything more from them?"

  "Only a sort of courtesy call yesterday, to say they still hadn't traced the missing million," replied Robin's father. "I told them their security system was rubbish, and that they should get in sorted. They weren't amused!"

  "OK - I'll think about moving it all back to normal in the next day or so," promised Robin. "That will really stir things, and it might be a good time to start suggesting a revised operating system for all of them. Gladys's bank isn't the only one at the moment having security problems of that sort!"

  "How is the new development coming along?" Robin's father enquired.

  "Quite well, as a matter of fact," replied Robin. "Marian and I will be back in Oxford tonight, I hope, and we then plan to stay put for a bit, if we can, to speed up the work."

  "Where are you now, as a matter of interest?"

  "Geneva airport, and I must dash, my Montreux train's just coming in. Give my love to Mum, and Gladys of course. I'll keep in touch."

  Robin arrived at the Royal Plaza shortly after M. Gilbert had left. Marian was waiting for him in reception, and quickly briefed him on her visit to the bank.

  "He's opened the three special accounts you wanted," she told her partner, "and has given me a letter confirming all the arrangements we asked him to make - it looks OK to me. You've only just missed him."

  They fell about laughing when Marian told Robin that M. Gilbert called her Lady FitzWalter.

  "You really mustn't do that again," she told him. "I shall never know how I didn't have a fit of the giggles!"

  "I'll put some money into those three accounts later - they can sit dormant for a while. There's already quite a lot of cash moving about, and Jim hasn't really started work yet on the African side of the operation," explained Robin. "But it was a fortunate coincidence that the US Corporation and one of the President's closest cronies in Zimbabwe, both had deposits in the same off-shore bank, in the Cayman Islands."

  "You'd better get off to your meeting with M. Renoir," said Marian.

  "It shouldn't be a long meeting," said Robin, gathering his papers.

  "I'll wait for you in the bar, and we could have lunch here, rather than dash off somewhere else," suggested Marian.

  "Let's do that," agreed Robin. "I'm really tired of all this travelling. It will be nice to get back to our flat in Oxford tonight and to settle down for a while. Not that we shan't be busy - there's just so much to do."

  Monsieur Renoir was ready and waiting for Robin when he arrived.

  "I hope not to take up much of your time, monsieur," said Robin, passing an envelope across the man's desk, "but I wanted to give you personally the details I promised at our first meeting. You will find in there all you will require, I hope, to set up the annuity arrangements we discussed."

  Renoir slit open the envelope, and quickly scanned the contents.

  "This looks admirable," he said.

  "I should like a signature for it, if you would be so kind," asked Robin.

  "I shall arrange that immediately," responded Renoir, ringing for his secretary. "I noticed, incidentally, that another quite large sum has been paid into this account. A very large sum, in fact, overnight last night."

  "There will be others," said Robin. "I shall let you know when all that is available has been deposited, and in the meantime you may care to start considering the portfolio you will need to run the annuity account."

  "I have already been giving that some thought," said M. Renoir. "But it is fortunate that you were able to call this morning, monsieur, since I would have been unable otherwise to confirm receipt of last night's deposit."

  "Why is that?" asked Robin, knowing exactly why.

  "Well, for some extraordinary reason which I do not yet understand, the source of the deposit is not evident," explained the manager.

  "Very odd," agreed Robin. "But the money is safely deposited, I hope?"

  "Oh, yes, there is no problem with the money itself. It arrived through the clearing system, and is now safely in our hands," explained Renoir.

  "But if you cannot tell where it originated," said Robin, rather enjoying himself, "there must surely be something wrong with your security system."

  "I really do hope not," said M. Renoir. "We have one of the finest banking security systems available, and it is commonly used throughout the banking world. I am sure we shall find a simple explanation."

  "I very much hope so," protested Robin. "I would not want to think that there is any risk attached to the account I have opened with you."

  "Absolutely none whatsoever," Monsieur Renoir reassured Robin, wishing he had never raised the matter. "I can promise you that your account with us is as safe and secure as it is possible to make it, and you need have no fear about the excellent level of service that we shall provide."

  "Well," said Robin reluctantly, "I suppose I h
ave no option but to take your word for it - apart from moving my business elsewhere, of course."

  "I can assure you, my dear sir, that that will be absolutely unnecessary," gushed Renoir, now highly embarrassed.

  Robin rose, to leave. Renoir's secretary came in with the receipt Robin had asked for, which the manager hurriedly read through and signed.

  "I wonder if I could offer you lunch, Monsieur Hood," said Renoir, looking at his watch, and hoping for time with his new client on the off chance of discovering more about this mysterious account.

  "That is very kind of you, but regrettably I have to get back to my hotel, as I am returning to London later," replied Robin.

  The two men shook hands.

  "I shall watch the operation of this account with interest, in view of what you have just told me," said Robin, as he left.

  Renoir returned to his office, slammed the door, and kicked his desk.?

  14. THE FINGER OF SUSPICION?

  To claim that there was sense of disarray, verging on panic, among parts of the banking community in various places around the world, would be putting it mildly. It wasn't simply that the banks concerned were facing unexplained transactions within their supposedly secure systems, it was also because the individuals and organisations that were the victims of those transactions were, as they say, 'making a fuss': in some cases, a lot of fuss. And that was because they not only appeared to have lost a lot of their wealth, but because they were, or had been, seriously wealthy, and therefore also important. Many of them indeed were very important, and in one particular case, no less a person than the President of an African nation.

  All in all, it was not a happy scene, and there were many unhappy people both inside the banking industry and among its clients. The odd thing about it all, however, was that each bank and individual customer had no idea that there were others in the same boat. The two Swiss banks that Robin had been dealing with, for instance, did not know that they were each having the same problems with one of their new accounts, while the Interbank (Nederlandsche) Group, at its London headquarters, had no idea that there were two banks having similar problems to its own in Switzerland. Or that there was also one in the Cayman Islands, one in Singapore, one in Bermuda, and two (so far) in the United States, and so on. Naturally, the banks concerned were not about to broadcast the fact that they appeared to be having severe problems with their security systems, and that very large sums of money were appearing and disappearing as if by magic. And their customers were so far being equally coy, publicly, about their difficulties, probably because in some, if not all cases, the cash they were now short of was ill gotten in the first place.

  So each bank was going through the same agonising process, trying to discover how and where its infallible security system was failing, or whether it might possibly be an insider, a member of the staff somewhere. Anyone with knowledge of the hierarchical access controls, like log-ins and passwords, and the ability to subvert the network's security mechanisms, could quite easily be quietly lining their own pockets. The computer experts and security staff all had very little to go on, since every transaction appeared to be perfectly legal, originating or terminating within the banks' clearing system via the internet, but then coming to a dead-end.

  It was the sudden removal of the remaining million pounds from Ms. Gladys Hood's account that finally spurred Jan Bergen into action. He rang Denis Hood to arrange a meeting.

  The two banks in Switzerland had also noticed that half a million pounds had been withdrawn from their respective accounts, but since Mr. Robin Hood had been good enough to advise them to expect this transaction, they thought no more of it - except that, once again, there was no evidence of where the money had gone.

  Robin had been expecting the call when his father rang.

  "I know what you're going to tell me," said Robin. "The bank has been on to say they've lost another million of Aunt Gladys's money!"

  "That's exactly what has happened," agreed Denis Hood, "except that this time it was their Head of Security who was on, and he has asked for a meeting. I'm going to London in a couple of days, as it happens, so I've agreed to drop in to his office then for a quick chat."

  "Was he in a panic?" asked Robin.

  "Not really," replied his father. "He said it was obvious that something was going on that they couldn't explain, but said he wanted to go through Glad's account with me to see if we could find any clues between us."

  "Which of course, you won't," said Robin.

  "Quite," agreed his father. "I think in the end I shall agree, or even suggest, that unless the money was deposited by a secret well-wisher, who then had a change of mind and withdrew it all again, then Gladys really has no claim to it."

  "I'm sure that's the right thing to do, Dad," said Robin. "But remind them that it doesn't hide that fact that there is something wrong with their security system."

  "I shall rub their noses in it, don't you worry," laughed Denis Hood. "I suspect that part of the reason for wanting to meet me is to be sure that it's not me playing tricks on them, since I have power of attorney."

  "As if you would!" said Robin. "Make sure you twist their tail, though, and insist on keeping the interest that will have accrued while the money was on deposit."

  "Good idea," agreed his father, "especially as the poor dear's expenses have gone up now she's in the hospice."

  "How is Gladys, by the way?" enquired Robin.

  "Not too good, I'm afraid," replied Denis. "I paid her a visit yesterday, and she hardly knew me. She seems to be going downhill fast."

  "Shame," said Robin. "But do let me know how you get on at your meeting. It will be interesting to know if they've got any ideas."

  Denis Hood finished his meeting with colleagues at his company's London Headquarters in Jermyn Street, and caught the tube to the City for his appointment with Jan Bergen. Pierre van Hague was also there when he arrived, and they had already pulled up Gladys's account details on the computer when Denis was shown into the office.

  "It's so good of you to come up to see us," greeted Bergen, "but I just hoped that if we put our heads together we might come up with a solution to this rather odd set of circumstances."

  "As you can see," said van Hague, indicating the computer screen, "we have your Aunt's account details on the screen here, and we have again been through every detail to try to explain the mysterious appearance and then disappearance of the large sum of money we have been talking about."

  "Any clues?" asked Denis Hood.

  "Absolutely none," admitted the Head of Security. "I've been through this account a dozen times with Mr. van Hague here, and with various account managers, and we can find no logical reason to explain the initial deposit of ?2m."

  "We have carefully traced all Ms. Hood's investments over the many years she has held accounts with us, and there seems to be nothing which would pay such a large sum at this time," said van Hague

  "Or ever," added Bergen.

  "So although we are obviously reluctant to admit defeat over this affair," confessed van Hague, "we did rather hope that if we went through Ms. Hood's affairs with you, we might by chance stumble across an explanation."

  "Well, I'm not sure I'm going to be much help," confessed Denis Hood. "You will know that I have only recently taken enduring power of attorney over Gladys Hood's affairs, but I have been through all the papers I can find to see if an explanation suggests itself. So far, none has, I'm sorry to say."

  "I feared as much," sighed the Customer Affairs Manager.

  "What really puzzles me, if I'm honest," said Denis Hood "is how such a large sum - or any sum, come to that - can suddenly appear in an account without you being able to trace its source."

  "That is also one of our dilemmas, as I'm sure you can appreciate," admitted Bergen. "The money came to us through BACS - that is the Bank Automated Clearing Systems, as I'm sure you know. So, as far as it goes, therefore, we do know where it came from. But we do not know, and neither have w
e been able to find out, how or from where it got into the system in the first place. That's been the problem."

  "And having studied Ms. Hood's account going back over many years, we can't even begin to guess its source, either," said van Hague.

  "It always seemed to us," said Bergen, "to be too neat a sum for a maturing investment. No odd shillings and pence, if you see what I mean. Which is why we wondered if it might have been a gift or a legacy or something."

  "I'm not aware of anything like that," said Denis Hood. "And I also quite fail to understand," he added, warming to his subject, "how such sums can ever be taken from an account without your knowledge, or even without proper authorisation."

  "Quite so," said Bergen, fidgeting.

  "No money of whatever sum should be moved from Ms. Hood's account without my authority, since I have power of attorney," added Denis Hood.

  "Quite so."

  "And yet no such authority was sought, or given," protested Denis.

  "Agreed."

  "So how did a bank of your size and reputation come to allow such a transaction to take place?" demanded Robin's father, rather enjoying himself.

  "The fact is, Mr. Hood," explained Bergen, "that we did not allow the transaction to take place. We simply had no way of stopping it, and didn't know about it until after it had taken place."

  "So what sort of security system do you call that?" Denis Hood jabbed his finger towards Bergen.

  "That is my gravest worry, as you rightly assume," said Bergen. "Cash appearing in an account from no immediately apparent source is one thing, but cash being taken out of an account without our knowledge or proper authority is quite another, and a matter of great concern to all of us. It will not surprise you to know, Mr. Hood," continued Bergen, "that our Chairman is taking the closest possible personal interest in this case, and I am reporting directly to him about every development."

  "Good," said Denis. "But at the risk of repeating myself, what sort of security system could ever allow this to happen?"

  "We have what we have always believed to be one of the best and safest security systems ever devised," explained Bergen. "It is only a few years old, and is widely used by most of the major banks in the world. Indeed, the core system is, I understand, also used by the military, so you are probably familiar with it. It has a unique reputation for infallibility and reliability, and uses the most modern and robust encryption systems. It is generally reckoned to be impregnable, although I have to say that frequent attempts are made to compromise it."

  "By hackers, you mean?" asked Denis.

  "Exactly," agreed Bergen.

  "So perhaps this was a hacker at work," suggested Hood.

  "I would say that is highly unlikely, if not impossible."

  "How can you be so sure?" asked Denis Hood.

  "Well, let's assume for a moment that a hacker was able to penetrate our security system, and compromised all the log-ins and passwords which protect individual deposits to gain access to Ms. Hood's account. Why would he then deposit two million pounds into the account of a perfect stranger, only to take it out again a short time later?" queried Bergen.

  "Perhaps because he realised he'd made a mistake, and had put it into the wrong account - somebody else's rather than his own, for instance," suggested Denis.

  "If that was the case," responded Bergen, "he would have taken it all back at the same time, not in two separate transactions.?? What happened just doesn't make sense."

  "Certainly not rational behaviour," agreed Denis. "You really do need to know where the money came from, don't you, to even begin to understand what's going on and who might be behind it."

  "And that's if you assume that the person responsible for depositing the cash was also responsible for withdrawing it," suggested van Hague.

  "Has to be, doesn't it?" asked Denis Hood. "It would be too much of a coincidence for two people to be able to access the account, surely?"

  "Unless they were working together," replied Bergen. "But the question remains 'why'?"

  "So you've finally drawn a blank, have you?" asked Denis.

  "Not quite finally," said Bergen. "It is remotely possible that it could just be an inside job. A member of staff somewhere who has access to codes and so on, could have been playing around. That's our present line of enquiry, but frankly I can't imagine it will get us anywhere, not least because nothing quite explains the deposit followed by a withdrawal. Anyone intent on nicking two million quid would almost certainly put it in to their own account or a phantom account specially opened for the purpose, and not use someone else's."

  "So how can you check that?" asked Denis.

  "We have identified a few individuals who could have access to all the information necessary to work through the security systems, and we have applied to magistrates for authority to view their accounts. So we shall see. One of the individuals is the Chairman, as a matter of interest!"

  "Does he know?" asked Denis.

  "He does now," replied Bergen. "In the end, I thought it best to tell him! But I am also going to mention the whole affair informally to my opposite number at the Bank of England. Eventually, I shall have to submit a formal report about the affair, but I wanted to talk things through with you first of all."

  "Kind of you," replied Denis. "Remind me who your opposite number is these days."

  "It's a chap called Alistair Vaughan, a retired Head of the Serious Fraud Squad at the Yard," replied Bergen. "I'm meeting him for lunch later. Don't tell me you know him?"

  "Oddly enough, I know his predecessor quite well - a retired Air Commodore Paul Bridges, who was once RAF Provost Marshal, and who now works in the Cabinet Office. As it happens, I'm seeing him for lunch today, too."

  "Well I'm damned!" exclaimed Bergen. "Small world, isn't it?"

  "We must swap notes later," said Denis, "and I especially need to know what, if anything you discover. My Aunt is not at all well at present, and I may soon be called upon to administer her estate, so it would be helpful to have all this sorted out before then. Between us, we shall need to agree how to handle the mysterious two million pounds."

  "Yes, of course, we shall meet again to agree that," said Bergen. "As I indicated, I am not at all hopeful that we shall ever trace the origin or destination of the money, but I will let you know. In the meantime, I can tell you that the Chairman has agreed that Ms. Hood will continue to receive interest on the full amount deposited until we agree to close the case, since legally it was our responsibility to keep the deposit secure."

  "That seems entirely satisfactory to me," replied Denis, "at least until we can be quite sure that the deposit was not specifically intended to be for my Aunt's benefit. Although, we shall never really be sure of that unless you can trace its source."